Selfish
by SilviaS7
Summary: Byakuya reflects on his relationship with Hisana.


Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine, it's owned by Kubo Tite and various other legal entities. I just write this for fun, mkay? Thanks.

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Selfish

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Byakuya stopped walking once he reached the midpoint of the small bridge. He turned to the northeast side and let both of his forearms rest on the rail. His hands clasped together instinctively to fight the slight cold. Early spring was always a fickle time of year concerning the weather; some days would be very warm and inviting of summer and others, like that day, would revert to winter. Byakuya's eyes followed the creek running beneath the bridge for a few meters before he turned his attention up to a tree by the bank.

That morning's frost was still present on the plum blossoms in the tree and those on the ground. It was a beautiful sight, though not without remorse. Byakuya hated when a frost came like this and killed the early blossoms. They were far too young and wonderful to leave so soon.

Plum blossoms always reminded Byakuya of Hisana. They were in full bloom during the spring that they met. They were falling from the trees in the land behind Kuchiki manor when he proposed to her. And they were absent from the world when she left, a cold winter morning over fifty years ago. Byakuya's gaze slightly fell and his vision was flooded with memories of his late wife. He had loved her so hard that he had broken when she left.

Byakuya was trained from a young age to be strong. He had to be strong for the Kuchiki name, especially after his parents died. He had to be strong to be a good shinigami, and he had to be strong to stand up to his clan and declare his devotion to Hisana. Now that he thought about it, if it wasn't for _her_ strength and her faith in him, he would have never been able to do such a thing. He was strong before he met Hisana, but when she was with him she made him immutable.

Her illness was so unexpected, and so foreign. Byakuya's eyes fell shut and he felt a burning sensation behind them. He had not cried for many years; this spring day was making him emotional. Hisana had built him up so much, made him feel invincible, and when she fell ill there was nothing he could do. Byakuya did not know how to fight such an enemy. He prayed he would never again find himself standing opposite such an opponent.

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_Hisana had her arms wrapped around Byakuya's waist as she leaned the left side of her body against his chest. Byakuya leaned back, his right arm wrapped around his wife while his left sat limp at his side. Byakuya had his eyes closed, just listening to his and his love's gentle breathing. He felt her move slightly and smile into his chest. He loved that feeling that he didn't even need to see her face to feel so connected to her. She had a powerful grip on him, mind and soul, and he loved every minute of it._

_She pulled her right arm away from Byakuya's waist and before he opened his eyes she gingerly placed her hand on his bandaged left forearm. Byakuya's normal reaction would have been to wince and pull away, but he felt so at ease in her presence that he made no attempt to move._

_"I'm sorry that you were hurt," Hisana said lowly as her right hand headed down toward Byakuya's left hand._

_"I made a mistake," Byakuya said rather calmly. "It is not the first time I have done so, and I doubt it will be the last."_

_"I know," Hisana replied, sitting up a little more as her right hand found its way beneath her husband's left and interlocked their fingers. She slowly raised his hand with hers toward her face. "I do not like seeing my Byakuya-sama hurt." She lightly kissed the top of his hand._

_Byakuya smiled at her. "I will do my best to not make any more mistakes, my Hisana-san." He pulled his left hand from her and brushed back her hair with it. There was something about running his fingers through her hair that he loved, especially after she told him it made her feel close to him when he did it. Both he and Hisana loved to touch one another, to always feel connected. It wasn't sexual; it just gave both of them a feeling of completeness and calm that they craved and could only satisfy through one another. Hisana was Byakuya's rock, his comfort, and he was exactly the same thing to her._

_Hisana's left arm moved from its position around Byakuya's waist and she brought it up to his face to brush some of his hair out of the way when she leaned in to kiss him. She loved it when he wasn't wearing his kenseikan, the headpiece signifying his rank. He looked much more natural to her, and as she said to him once, "More like Byakuya-sama."_

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_Hisana-san… _Byakuya's eyes opened and he looked up to the gray sky. To most people it wouldn't be a beautiful day, but Byakuya felt it was just fine. He found beauty in things which others outwardly dismissed… just like Hisana. She amazed him when he met her; he had never seen such a strong woman before. He had seen powerful women shinigami, but she had a strength that surpassed all of that, an inner strength he had never seen before.

She found him charming at first, he had later learned from her, but she was not really interested in him. After Byakuya met Hisana, though, his heart ached to get to know her, to be near the strength she radiated. After several tries, when she finally accepted his offer, the two spent some time together and Hisana found an appeal in Byakuya she had not seen before. He was a private person, and while he was not a cold man to the world he kept very much to himself. So when Hisana spent time with him in private, she learned what a caring and kind soul he was, and she soon found herself falling for him as well.

Byakuya looked down at the wooden rail beneath his arms once more. This bridge was important to himself and Hisana. Here they had shared their first kiss. Here, he had asked her to become his wife. Here they had run to after their marriage to share their first moments together as husband and wife. Byakuya had thought about introducing _them_ to the bridge, but in the end he gave in to his selfish side. It was something he wanted to always remember as being his and Hisana's, and theirs alone.

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_Hisana wiped the trace amounts of blood from the side of Byakuya's mouth. "Byakuya-sama," she spoke with that strength he loved, "are you sure you want to do this?" Her eyes turned up to his with concern._

_"Yes," he replied, still breathing heavily from the fight he had just won against his grandfather. "More than anything."_

_Hisana nodded. "If you are going to fight for me, I am not going to sit back and watch. I am going to push you, Byakuya-sama, and I am going to tell you when you are right as well as when you are wrong." She looked straight into his eyes with that intensity that she only had, which was just enough to love someone such as Byakuya._

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Hisana made him so much more than he was. She supported him in ways Byakuya never knew he needed, but once she did, he never wanted to let her go. He never quite understood why she stayed with him, considering his need for her nearly broke him, but every day he was thankful that he was the man she loved, and eventually married. If there was any way to bring Hisana back to him, Byakuya would have walked through Hueco Mundo and back just for the chance to hold her once more.

That was why, to the shock of so many, he was perfectly fine with the union. He knew what that kind of love was like, and when he looked into _his_ eyes, he saw the same thing that he himself had felt for Hisana. _He_ pulled a strength from _her_ that she had no idea she gave to him, and just as Byakuya fought with his life for Hisana, _he_ did the same for _her_. He had shown him the error of his ways, and made Byakuya realize that his devotion to Hisana had wavered. For that, Byakuya would always be grateful; though that was something he would only share with Hisana.

"Kuchiki-sama."

Byakuya turned to his right to see a house servant standing at the end of the bridge. "They are ready for you, sir." Byakuya turned around completely to see the small wedding party gathered several hundred meters away, by a small collection of cherry trees, ready to begin the ceremony. Byakuya turned and nodded to his servant, sending him on his way.

Kuchiki Byakuya took a moment to look over at the small gathering of shinigami before he made his way over. His sister, or more accurately his sister-in-law looked beautiful. Her husband to be had taken all of Soul Society by storm, and yet saved them from their worst nightmare at the same time. He was a noble man, and as Byakuya had realized some time ago, so much like himself it was scary. He would never say those words to Kurosaki Ichigo, because he didn't need to. Just one glance into the young man's eyes and Byakuya knew everything he needed to. Because he himself had been there once, fighting against all that would stand in his way to be with the one who had captured his soul.

When Byakuya finally made his way over to the ceremony, he walked up to his sister. "Brother," she said in that loving way she always said his name since her near-execution. He said nothing in response, instead reaching inside of his pocket to retrieve a small gold hairpin with a flower made of white jewels on the end. He reached up and pulled back part of Rukia's hair, placing the hairpin just above her right ear.

"Take good care of him, Rukia," Byakuya finally spoke, eliciting a look of surprise on his sister's face. "He needs you more than you will ever know." Rukia blushed and Byakuya turned away, heading back to his seat for the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Byakuya's thoughts were focused entirely on days gone by.

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_Snow fell around them, large flakes that would stick to anything they touched. Byakuya could feel Hisana smiling into his chest, and he kept his arms wrapped tightly around her as they stood on their bridge. She was now his wife, and he was now forever hers, and Byakuya would have it no other way._

_As the snow continued to fall, Hisana reached up and took Byakuya's kenseikan from his head. She smiled, her nose and cheeks slightly red from the cold. Byakuya returned her gesture, his face as well showing the signs of cold. The two met in the middle for their first kiss as husband and wife, and Byakuya decided then that he and Hisana would never be apart._

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Thanks for reading, comments/reviews are greatly appreciated. 3 Silvia


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